Aging

Think of some of your best memories. How does it make you feel to remember them? How does it feel when you get to share them?
Everyone has a story – probably many more than just one. Yet, a person can go through life and never really feel understood or listened to, even among their family and closest friends.

Chronologically, John H. Williamson is 76 years old. But not only does he not act like it, he doesn’t feel it.
Williamson, better known as Old Man Dancing, even has his moniker stitched colorfully on his cap.

“Get off your lazy behind and do it.” That’s Eugene Boyce’s advice for anyone not actively managing their diabetes.
Boyce, 70, used to be among their ranks. A former truck driver, Boyce knew for years that his blood sugars were high but didn’t want to think about taking insulin.

When a 92-year-old patient of mine came to my office to discuss end-of-life wishes, he already had an idea to ensure that his plans would be respected. He said he would have “Do Not Resuscitate” tattooed on his chest in large letters so when paramedics came to revive him, they would see the message and stop their efforts.

We all know we’re getting older, don’t we? After all, it’s hard not to wake up in the morning and realize you’re a day older. The physical changes become more obvious, and there are mental changes as well — it can be depressing.
Eugene’s Emily Rice, 62, and Nancy Sawtelle, 60, have been helping women navigate these changes through a series of “conscious aging” workshops, which focus on the mental and spiritual aspects of the aging process.

Duane Goodma claims the secret to making it to the century mark is just to “keep breathing in and out.”
Goodma, a mere 93, promises to do just that to catch up with his friend, Bertha Erby, who turns 100 on April 14.

Meals on Wheels People will deliver more than 1,000 hot turkey dinners to homebound seniors on Thanksgiving Day. The organization will also host community Thanksgiving Dinners at several locations in the Portland metro area.

Geriatric nurse Joanne Rader’s passion and devotion for people with dementia and their families has led to policy changes on the national level that bring comfort to the afflicted.
“Forty plus years ago, we knew nothing about dementia and the cause … we still don’t,” she says. “How care-(givers) dealt with dementia was to literally tie them up in their beds, in wheelchairs, in homes and in hospitals.”